I’m a frequent rider of the Reformatory Branch Trail. Are you?
I strongly disagree with your assessment.
It would be a step in the wrong direction to pave the Reformatory. I say that as a person who bicycles as his primary mode of transportation and has fought tooth and nail for every bike infrastructure project in my neighborhood. Multi-use trails are great. Car-centric infrastructure is not. Nature is great! When you destroy nature in the name of “improving” a multi-use trail, while leaving car-centric infrastructure preserved, you don’t get to claim that those who oppose you are simply just foolish anti-bike NIMBYs.
Listen to those with different opinions than you. They might surprise you.
EDITED: I accidentally misnamed the trail. Whoops!
Hey friend, I think you may have read more into my assessment of the situation than I intended. I don't think I made any claims about foolishness, or anti-bike NIMBYism.
I think there are perfectly reasonable cases to be made for keeping the Reformatory unpaved, so long as it is made fully accessible. Perhaps something more like the Narrow Gauge Trail, but I'd defer to disability advocates. The crossing over Route 62 is not accessible, and while the portion along the wildlife refuge has been improved a lot over the last decade largely through the efforts of a single volunteer, there are still sections that make it impassable for people reliant on mobility devices, families with strollers, or simply people who aren't sure-footed. And of course for it to be extended to the BFRT as part of a regional non-motorized transportation plan, sections would HAVE to be paved, like the areas near future bridges, the now-cancelled tunnel under Rt.62, etc.
I used to commute entirely by bike, from Somerville to Westford. I'd ride down the Reformatory probably a couple times a week when I wanted a break from Rt.225 in Carlisle. So while I don't ride it frequently now, I have ridden it hundreds of times in the past. It was and is lovely, but a reliable commuting path it is
not. I went over the handlebars twice when hitting mud-pits on the Reformatory (I ride a 650b rando bike) and riding on dirt is necessarily slower than asphalt every time. I had a 48 mile round-trip commute so speed counted, a lot. Forget about riding the Reformatory in the dark in the winter. A commuter trail can't be seasonal or it doesn't truly take cars off the road.
10 years ago, I was
very much in favor of paving the Reformatory. In the ensuing decade I've lived in Concord, and I've come to appreciate the people who prefer to leave it in a more natural state. I serve on committees in Concord that do things like approve trail and conservation projects, or fund them, so I get to listen to lots of different opinions, trust me. I've heard from transportation cyclists and people that want to push their elderly parent or husband with ALS in a wheelchair down the trail, as well as from people that don't think Concord should spend money on trails that will really just benefit people "from other towns," or people that think cutting even a single tree to make the trail more accessible is unacceptable. There are all kinds of opinions. While now on balance I think the merits of paving the trail outweigh the reasons for not paving it, when lobbied a year ago to publicly express my support in favor of the plan to study paving the trail, I declined. I did so because that's an un-winnable fight I don't want to get pulled into, and I'd much rather spend my efforts on more feasible projects, like better pedestrian crossings of Route 2, or the BFRT-Assabet connector.
Edit: I truly appreciate the sentiment that we should preserve what natural space we have, and that we have too many paved spaces and not enough dirt or gravel trails to enjoy. Truth be told, Concord and surrounding towns have a shit-ton of dirt trails, generally lovely paths chock full of flora, fauna and birders staring skyward. These trails tend to largely be destination trails--the kind you drive to, walk or bike around on, and then drive home. Though a buddy and I do a quasi-annual ride we call the Dirty Thirty that is a 30-40 mile bike loop through Concord, Lincoln, Weston, Sudbury, Maynard and Acton that is almost entirely dirt. So, while rich in nature trails, what Concord lacks is non-motorized transportation infrastructure. That's why on balance I think paving the Reformatory is a reasonable idea.
